As three-dimensional (3D) display apparatuses that may display depth images have been developed and their demands are increasing, 3D contents become significant. Thus, there is significant research directed towards a variety of 3D image capturing apparatuses in which a user himself/herself may manufacture 3D contents.
Methods of obtaining information regarding a distance from a 3D image capturing apparatus to an object may largely include active methods and passive methods. As a part of active methods, there are two representative methods, such as a time-of-flight (TOF) technique, whereby light is radiated onto the object and is reflected from an object and the light is detected so that a time for light movement may be determined, and triangulation whereby light is radiated by a plurality of light sources separated from a sensor and the position of light reflected from an object is detected so that a distance from the 3D image capturing apparatus to the object may be calculated. In addition, a representative passive method is a stereo camera method, whereby a distance from the 3D image capturing apparatus to the object may be calculated using image information captured by two or more cameras without actively radiating light. However, in active methods, both an additional light source and an additional optical system for radiating light onto the object are required, and in the passive stereo camera method, it is difficult to obtain precise distance information.